Rotating Small Animal Medicine and Surgery Internship

Objectives

The Ohio State University Veterinary Medical Center is inviting applications for a one-year rotating internship in small animal medicine and surgery. The intern will rotate through core blocks of Emergency Medicine, Internal Medicine, Critical Care Medicine, Soft Tissue Surgery, Anesthesia, Neurology and Specialty Electives. Emergency service will include primary receiving of cases during day, evening, overnight and weekend shifts with ECC resident and faculty on-site or on-call support. Interns on overnight emergency duty do not have clinical duties the following day. Total time expected on the emergency service is 45%. Our caseload is one of the largest academic caseloads in the country and is well suited for advanced clinical training.

Prerequisites

• DVM degree from AVMA recognized institution or equivalent is required.
• The Ohio Revised Code requires all veterinarians within the College to hold a current Ohio license to practice veterinary medicine. A limited license is sufficient for all professional activities carried on within the College. Holding a limited license restricts you to engage in the practice of veterinary medicine only to the extent necessary to fulfill your employment obligations. Conditions of employment are contingent based upon your eligibility to obtain and maintain the minimal state requirement of a limited license. If at anytime, you lose eligibility to be licensed your employment with the university will be at risk.
• The offer will be contingent upon the applicant reporting for duty for their internship at The Ohio State University Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences on the agreed upon start day outlined in their letter of offer.
• Foreign applicants will only be considered if they are US citizens or permanent residents. The Ohio State University Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences cannot provide work or study visas to internship applicants.
  • Foreign applicants must have completed at least 6 weeks of instruction at an AVMA accredited institution and have at least 2 letters of recommendation from that experience. 

Advisors and Mentoring

• Director: The Intern Program Director will serve as the clinical advisor for all interns unless otherwise designated. The director is responsible for coordinating the orientation, creating the intern schedule, approving leave, providing scheduled performance reviews, and addressing significant problems with intern performance.
• Mentor: Interns will be assigned a faculty member from the internship committee. The mentor is responsible for advising the intern regarding career plans or other professional development activities. The mentor will also be responsible for attending and contributing to the intern’s performance evaluation. This faculty mentor may also be designated as the clinical advisor if agreed upon by the intern, faculty mentor and Intern Program Director.
• Co-mentor: In specific circumstances, a co-mentor may also be assigned to the intern. The co-mentor is someone within the specialty of interest of the intern, if the intern’s mentor is not. The co-mentor will establish a meeting with the intern after arrival at OSU and will discuss career goals. The co- mentor is not responsible for attending intern committee meetings, or any formal meetings with the intern. After the first meeting, continued communication and involvement in the intern’s year, will be the responsibility of the intern.
• Intern: Interns are responsible for notifying and working with the Intern Program Director regarding scheduling requests, seeking and incorporating performance feedback into daily activities, meeting deadlines as agreed upon with the mentor and seeking counsel and support when needed.

Clinical Service Responsibilities

Primary duties during the program include diagnosis, treatment and care of patients; timely communication to client and referring veterinarian; instruction and supervision of senior veterinary students; and timely and thorough maintenance of patient medical records. Case management will be under the guidance of the senior members of the clinical service team.

Interns will rotate through the following services. The times are approximate and subject to change.

Core Rotations:

• Daytime Emergency – 6-8 weeks
• Evening Emergency – 6-8 weeks
• Overnight Emergency – 6-8 weeks
• Total Emergency – 21-24 weeks
• Critical Care Medicine – 4-6 weeks
• Internal Medicine – 6-8 weeks
• Soft Tissue Surgery– 4 weeks
• Anesthesia – 2 weeks
• Neurology – 1 week

Electives:

• 8-10 weeks total
• Cardiology
• Clinical Pathology
• Community Practice
• Dermatology
• Medical Oncology
• Ophthalmology
• Orthopedic Surgery
• Surgical Oncology
• Radiology
• Research (requires approval)

Primary Case Responsibility: The intern is expected to have primary case responsibility for the Emergency, Critical Care Medicine, Internal Medicine, and Community Practice rotations, and will have primary case responsibility while on other services at the discretion of the Service Head.

Interns are expected to provide medical care at a level expected in an academic tertiary care facility. If expectations are not met, the intern may be placed on probation. If satisfactory improvements are not made, the intern on probation may be dismissed.

Emergency Duty

• All interns will participate in emergency receiving. This includes rotation through daytime, evening and overnight emergency rotations (also includes weekends and holidays) with primary emergency case receiving. The intern must stay in the hospital for the duration of their shift.
• Back-up system: While on weekday emergency duty, interns will have an Emergency and Critical Care faculty and/or resident present in the hospital from 7am or 10PM. After hours, there is a formal back-up call system. There is always back up intern on call. There is an on-call resident and faculty member from each service. The intern is expected to utilize this back-up system when appropriate, especially during the first few months of internship. On call interns are expected to refrain from activities that would impair judgment.
• Interns on overnight emergency duty do not have clinical duties the following day.

Teaching Responsibilities

• Clinical teaching: While formal teaching is not required, all interns are expected to participate in clinical teaching, including case discussions with the primary student(s) or group discussion.
• Rounds: Interns are expected to attend rounds as designated by the Service Chief.
• Seminars: Interns will present one case in Intern Communication (COMS) rounds.

Educational Opportunities

• Intern Didactics: Attendance is required. This lecture series will cover pathophysiology and management of common medical problems.
• Attendance is required at monthly Intern Communication rounds. 
• Attendance at CPC is required when interns are in the following rotations: internal medicine, cardiology, neurology, oncology, emergency (daytime ER, overnight ER), radiation oncology, behavior, community practice and clinical pathology.
• Journal clubs are offered by most services. Attendance at a journal club in the intern’s area of interest is strongly encouraged.
• External (off-site) rotations are not available.

Evaluations

• Formal performance reviews are given at 1, 4 and 8 months of the program.
• Online evaluations through One45 are required to be provided by each service at the end of each rotation.

Updated 10/5/2022